"Enough talk, let's start the exploration. A haunted house can only scare people in a handful of ways. As long as you firmly believe everything is fake, nothing can possibly frighten me. When I see the haunted house actors, I won't be scared—I might even find them amusing." Liu Kang ignored Bai Buhui and strode forward. The eleven-person team officially entered the Spiritist Ghost School.
Faint crying drifted from the corners, a child's whisper tangled in the cold wind. This place had once been a paradise; now only empty corridors remained.
A half-open wooden door creaked on its hinges. Fine text covered the walls—words carved into the surface with a small, sharp knife, etching the last fragments of beauty that lingered in the children's minds.
"This is very realistic. A year ago, we went to the largest abandoned school in Xinhai for a courage test. This place gives me a very similar feeling to that school." Lan Dong took out his phone and snapped a few casual photos. "It doesn't look like it was deliberately aged. It's as if this school was always like this. Look at the dust in the window frame gaps, and the burn marks near the base of the walls."
He scratched at the wall with his fingernail. Beneath the dusty white surface was a layer of scorched paint.
"To create this scene, they'd have to burn the entire wall and then repaint it. Did the haunted house owner really think of such small details?" Two students stood beside Lan Dong—one was a chubby boy named Ali who looked very honest, and the other was a girl, very quiet and not much of a talker.
"Maybe the haunted house owner transported the burnt walls from outside underground and renovated them." Liu Kang didn't want his audience to think this haunted house had any noteworthy features. He did his best to liven the mood, trying to dilute the atmosphere of horror. "Speaking of which, we've been inside for five minutes and haven't even seen a single actor. These haunted house actors are seriously unprofessional."
"Maybe they're waiting for the right moment," the male assistant replied with a chuckle. He was about to move forward when the Big Ghost and Little Ghost, who had been scouting ahead, suddenly stopped.
"Did you guys hear a strange sound?" The usually silent Big Ghost spoke up. He glanced left and right, then turned to stare at the path behind them. "It seems to be coming from behind."
"What sound? I didn't hear anything."
"Something like a faucet that wasn't screwed tight, water dripping drop by drop." Big Ghost backed up a few steps and pushed open the door next to Liu Kang. It was a seemingly ordinary bathroom with five stalls inside.
"Watch out—the haunted house actors might be hiding in the stalls." Eerie background music drilled into their ears. Big Ghost and Little Ghost entered the bathroom while everyone else stayed at the door.
"What are you afraid of? There are so many of us together. I'll just drag the actor out and let everyone see." Little Ghost charged ahead. Seeing the camera turn toward him, he grew even more cocky and threw open the door of the first stall with force.
The narrow stall was completely empty. He then opened the doors of the next few stalls in succession before finally stopping in front of the fifth one.
"They went to all this trouble to recreate an abandoned bathroom—there's definitely a scare point hidden here. The dripping sound is coming from this bathroom, and this last stall is definitely a problem." Little Ghost and Big Ghost each stood on one side, and together they shoved open the door of the final stall.
*Bang!*
The stall door slammed against the wall. No one was hiding inside—only a torn diary lying on the ground.
"False alarm. Looks like we were overthinking it." The others filed into the bathroom one by one, while Little Ghost and Big Ghost picked up the notebook from the floor. Broken, uneven sentences were scrawled across the pages:
"Don't go into the dripping bathroom alone. A terrible ghost may be hiding in one of the four corners of the stall."
"Don't walk with your head down. An ice-cold hand will press down on your head."
"Don't stay too long in the room covered with posters. They can't get out, and they won't let you leave either."
"Don't bite your own fingers. Watch out, or your nails will be taken away."
"Don't stare into a shattered mirror, or you'll find the version of yourself on the other side who's nothing like you."